There can only be one (Mr. PG)
And some pushback on the city's size problems
Mr. PG won’t be on the move quite yet.
Last night’s city council meeting started with a report from staff reiterating the history of our giant faux-wood mascot and the logic behind moving him downtown: the current location is inaccessible, the Canada Games Plaza attracts 50,000 people annually with conferences and tournaments and travel, there are 850 people within walking distance and this is an opportunity to enhance the space. In this interview with Ben Bradley, (formerly of, I’m informed) UNBC, he makes the point that the opportunity to take selfies with well-known landmarks has kind of replaced postcards as the opportunity to say “I was here” to friends and family when you’re traveling, hence the logic of it.
But then coucil was asked for feedback and the questions started — first with Mayor Simon Yu asking about the cost of moving Mr. PG last time (unknown, we were told but it’s not a good comparison because the last time he was moved there was also a lot of refurbishment costs — esimate-wise, tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars). He was also the first to pitch the idea of two Mr. PGs, one at the current location or somewhere on the highway, and another downtown. We’ll come back to this.
Brian Skakun was next and expressed his disappointment it seemed like the move was a done deal, because the feedback he’d been getting was people are against it. The current location, he said, gets hundreds of cars a day. Staff countered this is true, if you want Mr. PG to function as a welcome sign, but reiterated that if he’s going to be a spot where people go and get out and take a picture and maybe spend time in the city, the current location doesn’t work. Skakun acknolwedged this but asked that a report be prepared on the different options, relative costs and benefits, and bring that back. Trudy Klassen seconded.
Cori Ramsay said she felt there were many unanswered questions including costs and a communications plan. She also brought up the central tension at the heart of this: Is the intention for Mr. PG to be a welcome sign that 60,000 people drive past, or a way to entice and enhance the experience of the visitors who come on foot, to maybe discover more of the city, to be enticed to move here? Either way, she said, downtown parking in the Canada Games Plaza area needs to be improved. Ramsay amended Skakun’s motion to also get a more detailed report on the next steps in having Mr. PG move.
Simon Yu interjected around here to say after more than 50 years, Mr. PG might be getting lonely, so maybe we should talk about a Mrs. PG.
This was the launch point for councillor Ron Polillo to explictly motion that there be two Mr. PGs. He shared that this very day, the organization he works for - AimHi - had put their flag up on Mr. PG, and many of its members were unable to physically access him in order to have their photo taken. So he agrees — the current spot is bad for photo ops, but suggested that one Mr. PG be on the highway to greet people and another go downtown for those. He called it “The best of both worlds.
Susan Scott agreed with the idea — one Mr. PG for visual purposes (highway) and another for interaction (downtown). She also said that with all the new development in the current location, Mr. PG is being “diminished” relative to the buildings around him.
Tim Bennett and Garth Frizzell agreed with most of what had been said.
Trudy Klassen wanted to talk about a 2D Mr. PG to put at the welcome signs and the “real” one downtown, so it wasn’t like two Mr. PGs, but one that functions as a welcome and another that functions as a photo op.
Kyle Sampson was last to speak on it overall, thanking council, staff and all the members of the community for their feedback. But to the idea of two Mr. PGs? “I think there can only be one,” he said. “It takes the magic away.” And if we add two, where does it stop? A Mr. PG for the Hart and College Heights, too? He was not opposed, though, to some sort of 2D cutout for the highway.
Ultimately, council asked staff to come back with more consultation and more information about what the different options could look like in terms of costs and logistics. No timeline on that, that I know of.
I’m also not sure if Kyle Sampson is a reader of this newsletter, or if he had the same idea as Rikki from the comments, but either way:
If you want to hear a couple of good interviews about Mr. PG as a symbol for the city and why this has people so heated, here’s the aforementioned Ben Bradley one and here’s one with the CEO of Tourism PG.
You disagree with me on the size of PG
Listen, I said I could be easily talked out of my theory of why we don’t have a bakery, etc like Quesnel in yesterday’s newsletter. Here’s Darrin Rigo to do just that:
From what I understand, the changes to Quesnel's downtown took place over a decade and were politically painful for Bob Simpson but amounted into something that was eventually beloved by the residents.
As for Prince George being too big to have both chains and beloved local spots, I think you're dead wrong. If that were the case, I think you would have to say Wall of Fame should be dead to Subway and Ritual should be dead to Starbucks, right? Crossroads exists with Pizza Hut. Nancy O's exists despite Earls and Moxies.
I think the fundamental truth about our lack of bakery (or equivalent cute local business) is sadly a bit more existential. Go to the Farmer's Market - we have amazing bakers in town who regularly sell out their bread and maintain lines around the indoor square. Our city A) has failed to create economic conditions where opening a brick and mortar is feasible and B) our city has not attracted and/or retained someone with the skills to open a Quesnel Bakery tier local stop.
This is likely true — I tried to find retail space downtown a few years ago and despite it supposedly being in desperate need, it was not easy — and definitely not as economical as many other locations. I also just wanted to comment on the Bob Simpson thing — he was mayor of Quesnel while it underwent its identity change, and a leading driver of it — and there’s a non-zero chance he lost the most recent election because he pushed for the Gold Pan to be moved from the highway entering town to a more central location near the visitors centre….. (I will note, that when I was there this weekend, I saw visitors stopping and taking selfies)
And bb writes:
I’m from Quesnel. And I go to PG regularly because it is a medium size city with medium city amenities I don’t have in my small town…. International airport, medium venue that hosts all sorts of shows (guaranteed Ice Cube not playing Q), a Costco. I don’t think PG is small, by Canadian standards anyway. And I totally agree, Quesnel is just the right size of town, we have a bit of most things that I can drive to in 10 minutes or less. And free parking, another small town indicator.
News roundup:
RCMP helicopter searches as police block Prince George road.
Theatre Northwest plans to boost new kinds of programming with additional city financial support.
Protest against increased involuntary care set for Friday at courthouse.
Local Hindu community celebrates Navratri at Northern Sports Centre Friday.
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Send feedback by emailing northerncapitalnews@gmail.com. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
Confused about mayor Yu's comments as we already HAVE a ms. PG, housed in the train storage area of the park! This is ms. PG ERASURE